Rare loss looms in the West

WEST AUSTRALIAN Kim Wilkie is at risk of earning the unwanted
distinction of being the only sitting Labor member to lose his
seat.

Mr Wilkie, the member for the Perth seat of Swan since 1998, was
trailing the Liberal Steve Irons by 30 votes late yesterday.

Mr Wilkie retained the seat by just 104 votes in 2004. This
time, he said, the result might "slightly favour me with a reduced
majority, I have got no idea".

The only other seat Labor has lost is nearby Cowan in Perth,
which had been held by Graham Edwards, who retired. Labor's seat
tally stands at 82, the Coalition at 59, with two held by
independents and seven in doubt.

Mr Irons, who runs a wholesale airconditioning business, said he
had a good chance of picking up more in postal votes.

The development came as the count for the NSW Central Coast seat
of Robertson tightened, putting it into the Electoral Commission's
"close seats" category last night, as some tallies still chopped
and changed by the hour. The sitting member, Liberal Jim Lloyd, has
shortened his deficit last night to 641 votes behind Labor's
Belinda Neal.

The seven contests in the "close seat" category also include
Macarthur, south-west of Sydney, where the Liberal Pat Farmer was
leading Labor's Nick Bleasdale by 481 votes. In Queensland, Liberal
frontbencher Peter Dutton was ahead by just 12 votes in Dickson.
Fellow Liberal Andrew Laming in Bowman regained the lead by just 27
votes but Liberal Peter Lindsay lagged by 560 votes in Herbert.

In Victoria's La Trobe, the sitting Liberal, Jason Wood, led by
712. The Liberal frontbencher Fran Bailey, in McEwen, has moved out
of official close seat status but hangs on with just 862 votes.